Mercenaries/Session 3C
20:00 <~abudhabi> GENTLEMEN. 20:00 -!- Remmon is now known as Arthur 20:02 <~abudhabi> Last time... what were you doing and where? 20:04 <&vittorio> (going to Ruby if I remember correctly having left Emerald?) 20:04 <&Arthur> We were arriving at Ruby 20:06 <~abudhabi> You arrive at the Imperial outpost at Ruby! It's an airless rock with a couple dozen thousand inhabitants. 20:07 <~abudhabi> Well equipped starport and fleet picket, though. 20:07 * vittorio will land the ship and then try to sell the textiles 20:07 <~abudhabi> You receive permission to land after being metaphorically looked at funny for flying a Zhodani boat. 20:08 <&vittorio> (The ship is an ugly duckling) 20:10 <~abudhabi> More like an enemy duckling. :V 20:11 -!- Nuramor Nuramor@Nightstar-v3b1lg.dip0.t-ipconnect.de has joined #Traveller 20:11 -!- Nuramor is now known as Lucas 20:11 <~abudhabi> Someone give Lucas the paste. 20:13 * vittorio will sell the cargo (do i need to make a roll to find a merchant?) 20:13 <~abudhabi> Yes, unless Ruby's codes say it buys textiles. 20:13 <&vittorio> (it does) 20:13 <~abudhabi> Then you don't. 20:16 <~abudhabi> So. How much of a gigantic profit do you make? 20:17 <&vittorio> !3d6+1+2 : Profit? 20:17 <+PainBot> vittorio rolled "Profit?": (1+5+5)+1+2. Total: 14. 20:18 * vittorio sells the textiles at 120% base price 20:18 <&vittorio> ((all done - now into Zhodani space?)) 20:19 <~abudhabi> Unless Arthur changes his mind and decides it's the right time to take up a life of piracy in the Vargr extents! 20:20 <&vittorio> (dont give him ideas) 20:20 <&Arthur> Oooh, piracy! 20:21 <&Arthur> Our next stops are Nerewhon, Whenge, Rio, Iepriats (Zhodani) and then we're at our destination. 20:21 <&Arthur> This is why we need maintenance here and enough materials to do our own maintenance at least once, preferably twice. 20:21 <~abudhabi> vittorio: Heard that? Maintenance! 20:21 * vittorio gets on to it 20:23 * vittorio pays for maintenance and life support here - how much spare parts should I get - fill up completely? 20:28 * vittorio fills the hold with spare parts and reports we are ready to go 20:30 <~abudhabi> Welp. Arthur? Anything else? 20:31 <&Arthur> Nope. 20:31 <~abudhabi> Lucas! 20:32 < Lucas> right 20:32 < Lucas> !2d6+2+1+2: Charging 20:32 <+PainBot> Lucas rolled "Charging": (1+6)+2+1+2. Total: 12. 20:33 <~abudhabi> !roll 2d6+4 20:33 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6+4": (4+5)+4. Total: 13. 20:34 <~abudhabi> Right. You've definitely left Imperial space. 20:34 <~abudhabi> !roll 1d6 20:34 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (4). Total: 4. 20:35 <~abudhabi> A week later, you arrive in Nerewhon. On the Zhodani side of space, but technically independent. Mostly because it's not particularly notable. According to the TAS, a small population of various factions live on the surface, ekeing out a living in the trace atmosphere. 20:35 <~abudhabi> No starport here. 20:36 <~abudhabi> There is a beacon on the planet, though. 20:36 <~abudhabi> EduSensors anyone? 20:36 <&Arthur> !2d6+3: I can do that! 20:36 <+PainBot> Arthur rolled "I can do that!": (1+6)+3. Total: 10. 20:38 <~abudhabi> Arthur: No Zhodani boats in sight. 20:38 <&Arthur> "Good, let's get us refueled and keep going. No time to waste and all." 20:39 * vittorio takes us to a gas giant if there is one? 20:39 <&vittorio> ((also, what's the beacon saying?)) 20:39 <~abudhabi> There are no gas giants. 20:39 <~abudhabi> vittorio: "Landing space for rent. 0 Cr." 20:39 * vittorio will take us down the water 20:41 <~abudhabi> vittorio lands on the ice sheet covering the planet-ocean. 20:41 * vittorio deploys the fuel gathering systems 20:43 <~abudhabi> vittorio: You're going to have to try harder than that. Fuel scoops don't work on solid water unless it's shredded very fine. And your hoses want for gnashing teeth. 20:43 <&vittorio> @who wants to cut ice?@ 20:45 <~abudhabi> Dogen: @...zzZzz--*pop* Huh? Ice?@ 20:45 <&Arthur> @Hmm. Are we dealing with a surface layer and water underneath?@ 20:45 <&vittorio> @I have no idea, sounds like a sciency scannery kind of thing@ 20:46 <&Arthur> !2d6+3: Are we dealing with a layer of ice and water underneath? 20:46 <+PainBot> Arthur rolled "Are we dealing with a layer of ice and water underneath?": (6+4)+3. Total: 13. 20:47 <~abudhabi> Arthur: There might be water underneath, but you don't know how far down. The ice is strong enough to hold the ship, and that's no laughing matter - the ship easily weighs as much as a wet navy steel warship, a heavily armoured one. 20:48 <&Arthur> @Looks like it'd be pretty far down. Let's see if whoever lives at the beacon has liquid water for us.@ 20:48 <&vittorio> "gotcha, you dont want to just melt a puddle for us to land in and scoop up?" 20:50 <&Arthur> @Thin atmosphere. Cutting'll work fine, but any puddle I make with the particle beam is liable to just up and evaporate on us.@ 20:50 <&Arthur> @Besides, it's a particle beam weapon, not a fine cutting tool.@ 20:50 <&Arthur> @Now I wish we had some lasers.@ 20:50 <~abudhabi> (Don't you have, like, a PGMP?) 20:50 <&vittorio> @don't we have something that will melt this stuff?@ 20:52 <&Arthur> @Luffy's PGMP would probably do the trick.@ 20:52 <&Luffy> @huh?, It's for people and buildings, not frozen water!@ 20:53 <~abudhabi> Dogen: @Well, you might want to hook it up to the ship's power.@ 20:53 <&Arthur> @Lucas, you got an extension cord big enough for that?@ 20:53 <&vittorio> @.... it can be for water too - you don't want the opertunity to really open up witht that?@ 21:00 < Lucas> @I'm sure I can do something.@ 21:02 <~abudhabi> Lucas: Indeed. It's no problem to hook up a few high-energy cables. 21:04 < Lucas> Well, let's do that then. Sustained output over a medium area, and it should work out well enough to be loaded on board. 21:07 * Lucas provides some extension cords for Luffys gun outside the ship. 21:07 <~abudhabi> Soon, you have a ship-powered PGMP. 21:08 <~abudhabi> Dogen and the crew come out to spectate. (Did you pay them last week?) 21:11 <&vittorio> ((we paid them two weeks ago on Emerald)) 21:11 <&Arthur> (We did in fact remember to pay them on time. Now get on with the murdering ice Luffy!) 21:12 * Luffy starts blasting Ice somewhat indiscriminately in the area. 21:12 <~abudhabi> (Good, good.) 21:13 <~abudhabi> The ice randomly explodes. A giant bank of mist forms. But so does a considerable pool of water! It quickly begins freezing over in the -50 C cold. 21:14 <&Arthur> @Lucas, can you defocus that beam some more? We seem to be getting more explosion and less melting.@ 21:14 < Lucas> Hmmmm 21:15 <~abudhabi> Lucas: Yes, but that will require Fiddling with the PGMP. It's not capable of such a wide spread out of the box. 21:16 < Lucas> @I'd have to modify the PGMP directly for that. There isn't exactly a standard modification for this kind of thing.@ 21:18 <&Arthur> @Sounds time consuming. How much water are we producing with this method?@ 21:18 * Arthur gets the pumps going to get that pool into the ship before it freezes over. 21:19 <~abudhabi> You smash the pump intake into the thin ice. 21:19 <~abudhabi> It begins pumping. At this rate, you'll be done in a few hours. 21:22 <~abudhabi> Doing anything else? Like finding and bothering the savage locals? 21:22 <&Arthur> They're not savage, this world's TL-7. 21:23 <~abudhabi> Like I said, savage. :V 21:28 <~abudhabi> Eventually, you are done. 21:30 <&Arthur> Excellent. Back to orbit and on to the next stop! 21:30 <~abudhabi> Which is? 21:31 <&Arthur> Whenge 21:31 <~abudhabi> Roll for jump, Lucas! 21:33 < Lucas> !2d6+2+1+2: Rollin' 21:36 <~abudhabi> Dammit. 21:36 <~abudhabi> What's that bot gotten up to? 21:36 -!- PainBot painbot@Nightstar-gsascp.adsl.tpnet.pl has quit timeout: 121 seconds 21:36 -!- PainBot painbot@Nightstar-c17dm9.adsl.tpnet.pl has joined #Traveller 21:36 -!- mode/#traveller PainBot by ChanServ 21:36 <~abudhabi> Lucas: OK, it's back. 21:37 < Lucas> !2d6+2+1+2: Still Rollin' 21:37 <+PainBot> Lucas rolled "Still Rollin'": (2+4)+2+1+2. Total: 11. 21:37 <~abudhabi> !roll 2d6+3: still hatin' 21:37 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "still hatin'": (6+1)+3. Total: 10. 21:37 <~abudhabi> !roll 1d6 21:37 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (3). Total: 3. 21:38 <~abudhabi> Welcome to Whenge! A world similar to the last one, except not being covered in ice. 21:38 <~abudhabi> Roll EduSensors. 21:39 <&Arthur> !2d6+3: EduSensors 21:39 <+PainBot> Arthur rolled "EduSensors": (5+5)+3. Total: 13. 21:39 <~abudhabi> A megafreighter is just exiting orbit. It is flying Zhodani colours. 21:44 <&Arthur> "Let's put us down on the ocean well away from the starport." 21:44 <&vittorio> "got it" 21:44 * vittorio lands in the ocean well away from anything 21:46 <~abudhabi> The freighter scans you, but doesn't do anything else about you before it jumps away in a flash of a hell of a lot off rads. 21:46 <&vittorio> "that was different" 21:47 <~abudhabi> You land in the somewhat foggy atmosphere. The planet is covered by ocean, liquid. You can't see more than 50 meters out. 21:50 * vittorio deploys the gathering equipment to load up on water 21:50 <~abudhabi> This time, no melting is required. 21:50 <~abudhabi> !roll 1d6 21:50 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (4). Total: 4. 21:50 <~abudhabi> !roll 1d6 21:50 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (4). Total: 4. 21:50 <~abudhabi> !roll 1d6 21:50 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "1d6": (2). Total: 2. 21:51 <~abudhabi> vittorio: About an hour into pumping, the hose goes taut. In fact, the ship starts being towed by it! 21:52 <~abudhabi> (Very slowly.) 21:52 <&vittorio> "The hell!" 21:53 <&vittorio> @Err, Apparently we've caught the biggest fish I've heard of - because we're being towed by the fuel hose!@ 21:53 <&Arthur> @Are you sure that's not the planet we caught?@ 21:53 < Lucas> @...What@ 21:53 <&vittorio> @the hose is being pulled by something which is big enough to pull us!@ 21:54 <~abudhabi> With gravitic compensation internally, you guys don't really feel it. 21:54 <&vittorio> @sensors maybe?@ 21:54 <&Arthur> @Sure, cut suction while I'm at it. Don't want to damage that hose.@ 21:54 * vittorio cuts the suction 21:54 <&Arthur> !2d6+3: SensorsEdu, what did our fuel hose catch? 21:54 <+PainBot> Arthur rolled "SensorsEdu, what did our fuel hose catch?": (6+2)+3. Total: 11. 21:55 <~abudhabi> Arthur: Something big. Really honkin' huge. It's easily a hundred displacement tons, maybe bigger. 21:56 <&Arthur> Did cutting the suction get us loose or is this something big actually holding onto our fuel hose? 21:56 <~abudhabi> Cutting suction did nothing. 21:57 <&Arthur> @It seems we didn't catch a thing, that thing's caught us. Luffy, you better be suited up.@ 21:57 <&vittorio> @why not just cut the hose?@ 21:58 <&Arthur> @How deep is that hose in the water? I'm going out to see if I can't get a better look at what's towing us. And you know, convince it to let go.@ 21:58 < Lucas> @Man a turret, just in case?@ 21:59 <&Luffy> @Always@ 22:00 <~abudhabi> The entire hose is in the water. You have like 50m of it. 22:02 <&Arthur> @Luffy, I'm going to need your help down there. I don't feel like swimming very much.@ 22:03 <&vittorio> @why not just cut the hose? Do we really need it that badly?@ 22:03 <&Arthur> @Not really, but getting more hose is going to take a while and I want to know what the hell's trying to drag our ship around.@ 22:04 <&vittorio> @why? we're not a research ship, why do we care - Arn't we supposed to be on a mission of some importance?@ 22:05 <&Luffy> @Fuck swimming, lets just blast the hose and go@ 22:05 < Lucas> @Aren't you at all curious?@ 22:06 <&Arthur> @This'll take five minutes tops. Luffy, carry me down to the end of that hose will you?@ 22:06 < Lucas> @Also, I don't want to have to replace stuff already.@ 22:06 * Luffy sighs, grabs his Gpmg and checks his guns are loaded 22:07 <&Luffy> @If its a fucking sea monster, it'll be a dead one@ 22:08 * Luffy finds arthur and uses his Grav harness to follow the hose down... 22:08 <~abudhabi> Alright. IntRecon! 22:08 <&Arthur> !2d6+5: IntRecon 22:08 <+PainBot> Arthur rolled "IntRecon": (3+5)+5. Total: 13. 22:09 <~abudhabi> Arthur: That's a *big* fish! It seems to have swallowed the middle of the hose, and is now trying to get loose. 22:09 <~abudhabi> In the process, it's pulling the ship. 22:10 <&Luffy> @I'm going to blast the fucking thing@ 22:10 <&Arthur> @Stupid fish thought our hose was food. I'll cut it down here and we can continue fueling.@ 22:12 * Luffy takes aim with the magrail 22:12 <&Arthur> @Luffy. 22:12 <&Luffy> (figure the PGMP wont do much down here ) 22:12 <&Arthur> @Let's not piss off the giant fish attached to our ship.@ 22:12 * Arthur cuts the hose near the fish 22:12 <&Luffy> @ I'll aim for the eyes! @ 22:13 <&Luffy> @quick way to the things brain@ 22:13 <~abudhabi> Arthur: With what? 22:14 <&Arthur> Luffy's blade, because I'm not sure if mine will work reliably in water. 22:14 <&Arthur> And if it does, it's liable to be very noisy about it. 22:14 <~abudhabi> You cut the hose. 22:15 <~abudhabi> The fish goes free! 22:15 <&Arthur> @All yours Luffy.@ 22:15 * Luffy shoots at the fish! 22:16 <~abudhabi> At what distance? 22:16 <&Luffy> (20-25m) 22:17 <~abudhabi> Luffy sprays magrail rounds towards the fish. They go much further than chemically propelled rounds would... and fail to reach the fish. 22:17 <&Luffy> @fuck you laws of physics!@ 22:18 <&Arthur> @I suspect the plasma gun will work better. But even that's not going to have much range.@ 22:19 * Luffy pulls out his PGMP and starts shooting! 22:21 <~abudhabi> Luffy: The plasgun makes a complete mess of the water in front of you. The fish probably felt the increased heat spike. It's rapidly moving away. 22:21 <&Luffy> @It got away@ 22:22 * Luffy dejectedly returns to the ship 22:22 <&Arthur> @Let's just get back aboard. Any problems fueling Lucas?@ 22:22 < Lucas> Anything? 22:22 <~abudhabi> Nope. 22:22 < Lucas> @Nope.@ 22:26 <&Arthur> @Good.@ 22:26 * Arthur returns to the bridge and awaits the fueling to finish 22:26 <~abudhabi> Eventually, it is done. 22:28 <~abudhabi> Where to? 22:28 <&Arthur> Rio! 22:29 < Lucas> Jump now? 22:29 <~abudhabi> Do so. 22:29 < Lucas> !2d6+2+1+2: Goin' for a jump 22:29 <+PainBot> Lucas rolled "Goin' for a jump": (5+1)+2+1+2. Total: 11. 22:30 <~abudhabi> !roll 2d6+3 22:30 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6+3": (2+5)+3. Total: 10. 22:31 <~abudhabi> Welcome to Rio! It would be a holiday resort, if not for the being way too near the frontier with the Imperium. A few million inhabitants, according to the TAS. Nominally independent of the Consulate. 22:31 <~abudhabi> Roll EduSensors. 22:31 <&Arthur> !2d6+3: EduSensors 22:31 <+PainBot> Arthur rolled "EduSensors": (5+6)+3. Total: 14. 22:33 <~abudhabi> Arthur: There's a small SDB on patrol here. Identifies as part of the Rio Space Force. 22:33 <&Arthur> "Hmm. These guys have actual SDBs." 22:35 <&Arthur> "Let's take us down to the starport shall we?" 22:35 <&vittorio> "that shouldn't be a problem, should it - we're not planning on fighting them or anything are we?" 22:35 * vittorio takes us down to the starport after getting landing permission 22:35 <&Arthur> "Intending to? No." 22:36 <~abudhabi> vittorio: Traffic control wants to know whether you're Imperial or Zhodani. They seem confused by the mismatch between your transponder and your ship design. 22:37 * vittorio will reply that we are imperial 22:37 <~abudhabi> vittorio: You get permission to land. 22:37 * vittorio lands 22:39 <~abudhabi> The meatball has landed. What do? 22:39 <&vittorio> @so what do we want to do here?@ 22:40 <&Arthur> @Refuel and go.@ 22:40 * vittorio refuels (refined available?) 22:40 <~abudhabi> vittorio: Nope. 22:40 * vittorio buys unrefined then 22:41 <~abudhabi> So, how long are you grounded while you refine? 22:43 <&Arthur> (As long as it takes them to fill our tanks. It only takes us a day to refine it all so there's not much point sitting at the starport) 22:43 <~abudhabi> Well, then, I guess that after a couple of hours, you're free to go. 22:45 <&Arthur> Next stop, Lepriats. 22:45 <~abudhabi> Roll it. 22:45 <&Arthur> Well. The gas giant near it. 22:45 < Lucas> !2d6+2+1+2: More rollin' 22:45 <+PainBot> Lucas rolled "More rollin'": (4+2)+2+1+2. Total: 11. 22:46 <~abudhabi> Arthur: Where are you aiming? 22:46 <&Arthur> One of the gas giants. Whichever is furthest away from everything. 22:48 <~abudhabi> !roll 2d6+3 22:48 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6+3": (2+1)+3. Total: 6. 22:48 <~abudhabi> Welcome the Zhodani Consulate! Roll EduSensors! 22:48 <&Arthur> !2d6+3: EduSensors 22:48 <+PainBot> Arthur rolled "EduSensors": (1+1)+3. Total: 5. 22:49 < Lucas> !2d6+1+2: EduSensors 22:49 <+PainBot> Lucas rolled "EduSensors": (5+6)+1+2. Total: 14. 22:49 <~abudhabi> Lucas: Whoopsie. Inaccurate jump. You're two days away from the farther giant, and one day from the middle one. 22:50 * vittorio start taking us towards the nearest giant 22:51 <&Luffy> fucking net keeps dropping 22:51 <&Luffy> (oops ooc) 22:53 * Arthur keeps an eye on the scanners, now that Lucas' turned them on. 22:54 <~abudhabi> As you get closer, you find that the giant has a Zhodani space station orbiting it. Apparently, a fuel harvesting operation. 22:55 <&Arthur> Manned? 22:55 <~abudhabi> Who knows? 22:55 <&Arthur> We could probably make a decent guess based on size? 22:55 <&vittorio> @Guess I should avoid them, its called 'giant' for a reason?@ 22:55 <~abudhabi> It's a huge mess of tanks. You could fit habitation in there easily. 22:56 <&Arthur> @Yup. The less contact we have, the better.@ 22:56 * Arthur makes sure the transponder's not transmitting 22:56 <~abudhabi> The transponder is now off. 22:57 * vittorio avoids the station and gets us the fuel we need 22:57 <~abudhabi> !roll 2d6 22:57 <+PainBot> abudhabi rolled "2d6": (2+6). Total: 8. 22:58 <~abudhabi> vittorio: As you reach orbit, you are being hailed by the station. It's a Zhodani request for identification. 22:58 <&vittorio> @we're being asked to ID ourselves@ 22:58 <&vittorio> @how do you want me to respond - or do we ignore it?@ 23:00 <&Arthur> @Ignore it, if we respond and we lie, they'll want us to dock for fuel and the game will be up. I'd rather not reveal our identities.@ 23:00 * vittorio ignores the transmission and continues onwards 23:01 <~abudhabi> The station retries a few times, then shuts up. 23:01 <~abudhabi> Roll DexPilot +2. 23:01 <&vittorio> ((obviously our comms are broken)) 23:01 <&vittorio> !2d6+2+3+2 : Pilot 23:02 <+PainBot> vittorio rolled "Pilot": (6+3)+2+3+2. Total: 16. 23:02 <~abudhabi> You refuel on the quick. And presumably start heading away from the gravwell posthaste. 23:02 <&Arthur> Yup. 23:03 <&Arthur> Now was it 3140 or 3039 that was our destination? 23:03 <~abudhabi> 3039. 23:04 <&Arthur> Okay, so 16 hours of refining before we jump. 23:06 <~abudhabi> You manage this without being attacked! 23:06 <~abudhabi> Roll? 23:07 < Lucas> !2d6+2+1+2: Sure 23:07 <+PainBot> Lucas rolled "Sure": (4+5)+2+1+2. Total: 14. 23:08 <~abudhabi> You will be arriving at your destinationa accurately next week. 23:08 <~abudhabi> GG guys.